The Five Essentials of a Successful Change Programme
The Five Essentials of a Successful Change Programme
Most change programmes fail not because of bad ideas, but because five essential elements are missing. This article explores the real reasons transformations break down and how leaders can make change stick.
The Five Essentials of a Successful Change Programme
Boardroom Briefs with Frans Versteeg
In many organisations, change begins with a spark: a new vision, a sense of urgency, a bold idea to move from A to B. But too often, that spark fades. Initial enthusiasm gives way to scepticism, and the programme stalls.
Why?
In my experience, it’s not because the ideas were flawed. It’s because five essential components were missing or incomplete. Without them, even the best strategies collapse under their own weight.
1. Clarity of Vision.
People cannot align around what they cannot see. A compelling vision explains why the change is needed, what it aims to achieve, and how it will unfold. It must be simple enough to understand, but rich enough to inspire. Vagueness invites confusion, and confusion breeds resistance.
2. A Sense of Real Urgency.
Change cannot wait for convenience. It needs to feel immediate, not optional. When urgency is absent, the effort feels like a “nice to have” something for next quarter, or the quarter after that. People may agree with the idea, but without urgency, they won’t act on it.
3. The Right People, Aligned and Ready.
Having good people is not enough. The right people for a change programme are those who understand what is expected of them, feel capable of doing it, want to do it, and are brave enough to challenge the status quo. Change touches strategy, operations, and culture. People need clarity, capacity, and courage to navigate all three.
4. Visible, Short-Term Results.
Momentum needs proof. If people don’t see early wins, doubt creeps in. Teams become disengaged. Short-term, tangible outcomes reassure people that change is not just being discussed; it is happening. These visible results sustain belief when the work gets hard.
5. Recognition and Rewards.
Even committed teams need to feel seen. Celebration doesn’t require extravagant bonuses; it might be a team offsite, a small gesture, or public acknowledgement. What matters is the signal: we notice your effort. We value your progress.
When any one of these five elements is neglected, change becomes brittle. But when all five are present and well-aligned, the path becomes not only clearer, but also walkable.
Change is not a single decision; it is a sequence of well-timed, human-centred choices. Programmes succeed not by pushing harder, but by aligning the conditions for people to believe, act, and sustain the journey.
Let’s not rush the next change. Let’s prepare it properly and make it real.
Highlights:
00:00 Introduction to Successful Change Programs
00:28 The Importance of a Clear Vision
00:51 Creating a Sense of Urgency
01:18 Having the Right People
02:20 Achieving Noticeable Results
02:41 Celebrating Success and Rewards
03:39 Conclusion: The Five Key Elements
Links:
Website: https://www.fransversteeg.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fransaversteeg/
Transcript:
To realise successful change programs, I believe you need five things. You need a very clear vision. You need real urgency. You need the right people, you need noticeable results. Short-term, actionable steps that people can see and you need rewards. Um, let me explain that a little bit further.
It's a vision is really needed to explain why the change is happening and even what will happen and how it needs to happen, and I think you, you cannot be clear enough about the vision. Um, but vision in itself is only one of the five. Uh, the second, the second is really urgency. People need to understand that this change needs to be done. Now, it can be very inspiring. It can be, uh, interesting. It can, people can, can like the change, but if there is no real urgency. The program will fail. At least that's what I have learned and what I've, uh, what I've seen.
Uh, the third, uh, important thing is of course, do you have the right people? And that also, that also means do people actually know? What is expected of them. So going from A to B uh, is all sorts of strategic change. It's all sorts of tactical change. It's all sorts of operational change. And so do people. Know what to do. Are they able to do it? Do they want to do it? Do they dare to do it? So that's a very important third issue. And, but even then you say, well, okay, you have the, the right vision. You have real urgency. You have people that know what, uh, uh, what to do. They dare, they want to, then even that will not be sufficient to realise a real program.
You need clear short term results that people actually see. That things are changing, that something is happening. Otherwise people get very frustrated. They start to disengage and they say, well, it's all beautiful, but I don't see anything. So that is very important I guess. And uh, then there is the fifth, uh, aspect and I think that is also often forgotten, and that is celebrating results. Um, and giving rewards. And it's not necessarily, does that mean that you have to have all sorts of additional, uh, bonus programs or, uh, additional, uh, salaries or whatever, but even just like. Um, giving a team, uh, some days, uh, on a trip or giving another reward, uh, or incentive. Um, also communicate that it's, what they do is noticed.
Um, so the rewards are, are actually also of an important fifth, so aspect of the whole change. And I, and basically what I've seen is that if one of those five aspects is not really worked out in a good way, the whole program will, in the end fail. So five things to, uh, to successfully change.